Economic Impact of the NYC Food Processing and Distribution Center Development Project
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Economic Impact of The NYC Food Processing and Distribution Center Development Project Prepared for: New York City Regional Center Prepared by: Michael K. Evans Evans, Carroll & Associates, Inc. 2785 NW 26th St. Boca Raton, FL 33434 561-470-9035 [email protected] May 22, 2014 2 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 3 2. Tabulation of Principal Results 6 3. Introduction and Scope of Work 9 4. Detailed Industry Results of Construction Expenditures 10 5. Brief Guide to RIMS II Input/Output Model 12 6. Methodology for Calculating Indirect Job Gains 15 7. Economic Parameters for 16 New York City Metropolitan Area Counties 20 A. New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Kings, Queens, Nassau, Westchester, Richmond, Suffolk, and Rockland 21 B. Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Union 39 C. Commuting Patterns for Bronx County 49 Appendix: Resume of Dr. Michael K. Evans 51 3 1. Executive Summary This report presents a preliminary estimate of the number of jobs created for The NYC Food Processing and Distribution Center Development Project (the “Project”), which is located in the borough of the Bronx, New York. 1. The total cost of the Project is $208 million. This funding includes $85 million of EB-5 funding and $123 million from Fresh Direct Holdings, Inc. (“Fresh Direct”), the borrower of EB-5 funds and the developer of the Project. Of this amount, $192,832,000 represents EB-5 qualifying expenditures. 2. Since the Project construction period is greater than 24 months, only construction related jobs will be calculated. 3. The governments of the City and State of New York have noted that redevelopment within the Bronx is an important source of jobs and economic development activity for New York City. The Bronx currently has the highest unemployment rate of any county in the state of New York. A component of bringing new jobs to the Bronx is the continued redevelopment of the Harlem River Yard Transportation and Distribution Center located at the southern tip of the Bronx. This multi-modal transportation park is owned by the State of New York and provides warehousing, distribution, and related freight services to businesses serving the New York City metro area. 4. The Project involves the construction of a new state-of-the-art, 424,000 square foot food processing and distribution center, one of the largest in New York City, within the Harlem River Yard Transportation and Distribution Center. The new facility will include space for food processing, warehousing, and distribution as well as corporate offices for Fresh Direct the largest independent, full service internet food grocer in the United States. The Project is an economic development initiative that will bring new jobs to the Bronx. The Project is also a component of New York City’s efforts to strengthen and grow the food manufacturing and distribution industry, a significant sector of the city’s economy. The Project involves the governments of the City of New York and the State of New York, as well as Fresh Direct. 5. The calculation of the number of permanent new jobs created by this Project are based on the RIMS II final demand multiplier for the 16-county area consisting of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, Westchester, Nassau, and Rockland counties in New York State, and Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, and Union counties in New Jersey (the “Study Region”). 6. The RIMS II final demand multiplier for construction in the Study Region is 12.3936. The total EB-5 qualifying construction cost budget is expected to be $192,832,000. However, the construction expenditures are in current 2014 dollars, whereas the input/output data and multipliers are based on 2010 dollars. Hence the construction figure should be deflated by the expected increase in the cost of construction from 2010 through 2014. According to the Turner Construction Cost Index, described further in 4 Section 4, construction costs will have risen 11.4% from 2010 through 2014, so the $192,832,000 figure is deflated by 1.114 to obtain about $173.098 million. This figure is then multiplied by 12.3936 to obtain a total of 2,145 total new jobs. Since the maximum amount of the EB-funding is $85 million, and the Project is located in a Targeted Employment Area, which means each immigrant may invest $500,000, a total of 170 investors will be sought. Accordingly, a total of at least 1,700 new jobs must be created. Thus, an excess of 445 new jobs (26% surplus) will be created in this Project. 7. The EB-5 qualifying construction cost budget has been provided by the New York City Regional Center (“NYCRC”). NYCRC received the construction cost data directly from Fresh Direct and its general contractor, Shimenti Construction Company. 8. Fresh Direct is the largest independent, full service internet food grocer in the United States. The company is a direct-to-consumer online food and grocery provider that delivers fresh food and brand-name groceries to its customers’ door. Rather than travel to a grocery store, Fresh Direct customers are able to place orders online and receive the items the next day. Fresh Direct currently processes up to 14,000 orders per day and its fleet of over 250 trucks delivers to over 75,000 households per week in the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. More than 750,000 households have used Fresh Direct to date and it widely recognized as the premier internet food grocer in New York City, the largest grocery retail market in America. Founded in 1999, Fresh Direct currently employs over 2,500 individuals and its 2013 sales were $441 million. Fresh Direct projected sales for 2014 are $500 million. The last equity round of funding, completed in March 2014, valued the company at over $550 million. Fresh Direct possesses professional in-house construction capability and has spent considerable time and resources on preparing and finalizing construction costs expenditures of the Project. Fresh Direct’s Vice President of Facility Design and Development, Richard J. Leal, has over 30 years of construction management and procurement experience, with a particular emphasis on ground-up construction. Mr. Leal is an engineer who has overseen construction projects for entities such as the large public utility Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), as well as a 250-store retailer and a leading privately held real estate development company in New York City. Accordingly, Fresh Direct has the depth of experience and financial expertise to provide construction expenditures that are reliable, precise, and credible. 9. In addition, the general contractor hired by Fresh Direct to oversee construction of the Project is Schimenti Construction Company (“Schimenti Construction”). Based in Ridgefield, Connecticut and New York City, Schimenti Construction is a building construction company offering diversified general construction and design-build services to a variety of clients, which include some of the largest retailers in the United States. Schimenti Construction has been overseeing projects in New York City for over 20 years. The company staffs over 100 trade professionals who coordinate all aspects of construction management using a proprietary system developed for its clients. Schimenti Construction offers general contracting, pre-construction planning, and comprehensive project management services, including the planning and scheduling of 5 the manpower, equipment, materials, and subcontractors required for a project. Schimenti Construction has served as a general construction contractor for the following leading retail companies: Starbucks; Target; The Home Depot; Best Buy; Bed Bath & Beyond; GAP; Bank of America; Barnes & Noble; Victoria’s Secret; and Banana Republic. Because of its extensive construction management experience, Schimenti Construction possesses professional construction cost and schedule-estimating capabilities and has spent considerable time and resources on preparing and finalizing construction cost estimates and construction timelines for the Project. Accordingly, information provided by Schimenti Construction is from a highly reliable, precise and credible source. 10. As outlined above, Fresh Direct and Schimenti Construction possess the requisite expertise and background to accurately generate the EB-5 qualifying construction budget produced specifically for this economic report. We thus confirm that the job creation totals are based on applicable, reliable and up-to-date information. 6 2. Tabulation of Principal Results The results for the employment multipliers for the construction of the Project are summarized in Table A. The RIMS II final demand multipliers include the direct as well as the indirect and induced effects for the construction of the Project, but no operations jobs are included. All figures in Table A represent permanent new jobs created. Table A. Summary of Employment and Revenue Activity Expenditures/ Final Demand Total Revenues Multiplier Jobs (mil 2010 $) Activity Construction * 173.098 12.3936 2145.3 * All figures calculated from unrounded numbers Table B-1 shows the NAICS codes used in this report and the definitions from the NAICS code manual. Table B-2 contains print screen images of the exact multipliers used in this study taken from Table 1-5 of the RIMS II input/output multiplier tables. Table B-1. NAICS Codes and Definitions 236220 Commercial and Institutional Building Construction Table B-2. Print Screen Multipliers and List of Counties (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 230000 Construction